A seeming rebuke to those who see contemporary black music as hip-hop only, Afropunk Fest 2014, held at Commodore Barry Park this past weekend, showcased the diversity within a largely African-American musical community. Tracing its origins to the mid-'80s Black Rock Coalition and celebrated in the 2003 documentary "Afro-Punk," Afropunk is well established now with a lifestyle website Afropunk.com and the festival, the first of which was held at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2005. The organizers are planning similar events in Atlanta and Oakland in 2015.

As a movement, Afropunk's common bond had always been outsider music, be it black artists playing punk or musicians choosing to blend and bash together sounds in a way that requires attention from open-minded listeners. Which doesn't quite account for the appearance at this year's festival of suave singers like Kandace Springs, Lianne La Havas and Alice Smith, but the more inclusivity the better.

Offering a mix that isn't found at any other major U.S. festival, some 60 artists were featured on three stages; DJs spun two-hour sets from a booth in the cab of a well-branded pickup truck. R&B and soul, wavy music, funky electronic music, and modern rock were well represented, as were—in keeping with Afropunk's history—punk and metal, including early pioneers Bad Brains, Body Count and Cipher. There were those who defy genre, like Fishbone and Meshell Ndegeocello, and an army of producers who have no regard for bland, mainstream electronic dance music. Old-school soul advocates Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings were the first day's headliners, and D'Angelo was at the top of the bill for day two. (A free sampler of tracks by some artists who appeared at the festival is available for download at Amazon.com.)

Under threatening skies on Saturday afternoon, the Afropunk festival revealed how far the movement has traveled from its origins as a punk sanctuary. Emerging punk bands like the Bots and Sunny Gang performed on the smallest stage, as did some established punk veterans, while at a larger venue, Shabazz Palaces, a hip-hop duo that experiments with the form, held a gathering crowd with a performance that leaned on the pair's atmospheric new album, "Lese Majesty."

On the main stage, R&B with electronic platforms was spiced with live improvisation: Denitia and Sene added an electric bassist to their dance blend, and Tecla boosted her sound by playing a keytar—a synthesizer keyboard that's held like a guitar—and included a drummer to challenge the machine-made polyrhythms. With guitarist Ben Tyree sitting in, Tennessee native Valerie June brought a touch of twang with her country and folk. The excellent R&B and soul singer Alice Smith and her trio arrived as the sun broke through. But as can happen in a multiartist festival setting, she was undermined by a less-than-perfect sound mix.

Heavier music moved to the main stage on the festival's second day with metal's Straight Line Stitch and Tamar-kali, who sang with intensity over squalls of guitars. Ms. Ndegeocello mixed funk, neo-soul, reggae and snippets of free jazz in her delicious set, which featured two electric basses and a knotty cover of Whodini's "Friends," the opening number of her "Comet, Come to Me," one of 2014's best albums.

D'Angelo's return to performance has been a slow-motion blessing: a few shows since his brief 2012 tours that followed an absence of more than a decade; earlier this month, the gifted singer, multi-instrumentalist and composer appeared at a tribute to James Brown held at the Hollywood Bowl. On Sunday, with members of the Roots as his band, he arrived late and settled in behind a battery of keyboards for a set that included songs by his predecessors Fishbone, Funkadelic, Bob Marley and Prince. Becoming more assured, with Captain Kirk Douglas providing searing guitar solos, D'Angelo shook off the remaining rust with his composition "Greatdayndamornin'/Booty." His keyboard introduction to the Ohio Players' ballad "Our Love Has Died" revealed that his dexterity remains, and his set closer, Prince's "She's Always in My Hair," was evidence that his old fire is ready to be stoked when the mood strikes. As it was with Ms. Ndegeocello's performance, at about 50 minutes D'Angelo's set seemed too brief.

By the time D'Angelo and the Roots exited, the festival had made its point: Afropunk and its followers prefer a varied soundtrack, one whose sum confirms a panoramic view of contemporary black music that's available to all.

Mr. Fusilli is the Journal's rock and pop music critic. Email him at jfusilli@wsj.com and follow him on Twitter @wsjrock

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